Improvement in street-railway switches



T. NEWMAN.

STREET-RAILWAY SWITCH.

No. 171,737. Patented Jan.4,1a7e.'

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS NEWMAN, NEW ORLEANS', LOUISI'ANA.l

IMPROVEMENT IN STREET-RAILWY SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17 1,737, dated J anuary`4, 1876; application filed v June 3, 1874.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, THOMAS NEWMAN, of the city of New Orleans, parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway- Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and correct description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this speciiication.

vThis invention relates to a certain improvement in railway-switches, for which Letters l?atent No. 145,678 were granted to me on the l18th day of September, 1873.

My present invention has for its object the reduction of the height ot' the striking-block used in the construction of the said switch; hence obviating the necessity of raising the paving of the street. around the same.

In lieu of the projecting lug on the shoebrake, for the operation of the switch-rail, I provide a long lever of peculiar form, and attach one end of the same to the bottom of the car, aboutvmidway between the axles thereof, by means of a pivot. The forward end of the said leveris suspended by a metal link orchain, which passes up through the bottom of the front plat-form of the car. The upper end ofthe said link is secured to a spring, in such a manner that the said spring shall keep the lever entirely clear of the ground until such time as it will be required to operate the switch, which lis readily done by the driver placing his foot A is the platform of the car, andB the wheels of the same. O G are the rails of a straight or continuous line of railway. D will represent one rail of a road branching ott' from the main line, while E will show the switch-rail necessary to turn the cars from the main line to th at of a branch road. F is the sliding frame, to one end of which the striking-block Gis attached, and to the other end of the same vthe cord a and weight b are secured.

The striking-bar Gr is provided with an inclined face, against which, when the lever H is thrown down so as to bear againstthe same, to operate the switch-rail E. H is a lever of the form shown, and is secured by a hinge or pivot-joint, h, to the under surface of the car. To the opposite end of this lever is secured a rope or link, J, and which passes up through an opening in the platform and is secured to a spring, K. The tension of this spring is constantly employed in holding the lever H free from contact with the rails, but when the switch is to be moved, simply by depressing the spring the lever falls through its own gravity, and, striking against the block G, willmove the switch-rail so as to leave the car free to pass on the branch rails D. So soon as-the car has passed, the pressure on the spring is removed and the switch rail, through the .weight b, will be returned.

on th:l under surface of the car, cordor link J, and spring K, the whole constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described.

THOS. NEWMAN. Witnesses:

ELN. JENKINS, T. J. Ro'AcH. 

